The road goes ever on and on...

Maybe I'll manage to post more than once every 18 months.

I have finished the degree I went back to school for- graduated in May. I had two classes to finish the program but will have the last of the paperwork finished in the next week and a half. About two months after that I will be eligible to sit for the credentialing exam! 

The first thing on my to do list is to find a job in the field, I had to leave the bakery a few months back-it became more important to be awake between 9am-3pm than 11pm-7am. 

As soon as I have employment in place, I plan to find space in my schedule to craft regularly. I haven't had the time to sew at all, and knitting has been limited to simple, portable projects. I have a cardigan that is half done and yarn ready for another. 

Salto Socks

These are the Salto socks I was knitting in my previous post. It took a year to knit them because I did not keep track of where I was in the pattern and had to rip back several times. I finally found a row counter in the Stash to Go app the linked specifically to this project. That helped tremendously when I only got to knit for the duration of travel time to and from campus. 

So, this blogging thing...

It's been almost two years since my last post. I've been doing a lot of knitting, some sewing, but have not been spending much time on the internet. OK, not much time on the internet outside of Ravelry, but how else does a knitter keep projects organized?

I've been working overnights at an awesome bakery for the past 9 months, and as of January, I'm a full time student as well. After dealing with ill family, and my own chronic illness, I found a nutrition program at a local higher education institution. This semester I'm finishing up the pre-requisites that my bachelors degree didn't cover, and after I've completed the term, I'll be able to apply to the program. 

Carrying a full time hours as work plus full time credit load, plus care-taking responsibilities means I don't have much time for sewing, but I almost always have knitting in my purse or backpack. Socks are my go-to project nowadays. My current pattern is Salto, in the now discontinued color of Cranberry of Stroll Glimmer, though it looks like they have new colors. It's got more twist than the regular stroll I've worked with, but the Stellina just seems to make the sock look linty more than sparkly. 

WIPWednesday: Jaywalker Edition

So, Jaywalkers. This is my first pair and it may not be my last. Yarn is Knitpicks Felici in the Time Traveller colorway, purchased during the Cyber Monday sale of 2014.

Size: It's complicated. Thanks to a childhood spent on foot and bike, I have calve muscles. This means my leg is a sock size larger than my foot. This makes knitting socks complicated, but so totally worth it.

For this pair, I decided to knit the 84st size for the leg and the 72st size for the foot. I cast on 72 stitches for the ribbing and increased to 84 during a plain round after the ribbing. Worked in pattern until just shy of seven inches. It worked almost perfectly to use yarn from other end of skein for heel flap- the heel flaps don't quite match, but zero wasted yarn and uninterrupted stripe pattern across top of foot is worth it. Sock on left is finished with gusset decreases, sock on right will follow shortly. The depth of the heel flap is closer to three inches than two and ha half-so there are more stitches to pick up and decrease, plus this is where I get rid of the extra stitches-my foot being narrower than my leg. After continuing gusset decreases stitches down to what is called for on the 72st size, I still had extra stitches in the instep pattern. Solution: On first pattern row do not kfb on left side of instep needles (two sts decreased). On next pattern row do not work kfb on right side of instep needle (additional two sts decreased). Sock now has correct number of stitches to follow pattern for 72st size.

Checking in on New Year's Goals

Today is the first of April, which means that we are one quarter of the way done with the year.
On January first I made some goals about my crafting in 2014.

Goal one: Post twice a month.

Check! Sidebar on your right shows that I made three posts in January and two each for February and March.

Goal two: Sew something for entry in the MN state fair.

Um, I think I've determined that it will be a buttoned-downed blouse. I have the fabric, some pale pink striped seersucker and buttons to match. I even have the pattern picked out, though I have to alter this and redraft that, so really I'm going to be winging it. Though I have made the pattern before (hence the need for redrafting...) so I do know what needs to be different. Sigh, that should be my April sewing challenge.

Goal three: Crochet something for entry in the MN state fair.

Nothing to report on this one yet. I thought I had a project and craft materials, but have since re-thought and rescinded earlier decisions. Note to self: check crochet patterns on Ravelry, peruse crochet pattern libraries of family members.

Goal four: Knit 10 items off Ravelry queue.

For it to count as being 'off my queue' I had to have queued it before 2014. All are public links to my project pages on Ravelry.
First off: Snowflake, a SusannaIC pattern. Queued March 23, 2010.
Then Cats in the Hat, for sister. Squeaked into queue on December 24, 2013.
And Ringwood, my first pair of gloves, queued shortly after being published in Knitty: September 30, 2010.
Then another gift: Cabled Socks. This was my Ravellenic challenge. Queued December 15, 2013.
And most recently Gail, A lovely lace shawl, queued January 14, 2013.

I've also made a pair of socks for my mom that never entered the queue, it was a spur of the moment insomnia driven decision. These have yet to be photographed, but they do exist. Knitty pattern Fargyles, knit in some worsted weight acrylic that's been lingering in the stash.

Plus I cast on for the Heliopath Vest, though after perusing project pages, I think I will rip back and cast on the 38" size.

And just the other day I started a new pair of socks. I bloged about them in the last entry.

That means that five out of my eight projects started in 2014 came of my pre-2014 queue. Not bad for three months of knitting.

Goal five: Learn a new technique:

Well, I haven't gotten there yet. There was a brioche class at my LYS, but it filled up fast. I've been told they will offer it again, so I have that option. I could also take a craftsy class or read a book or watch a DVD, so I still have plenty of options.

In non-goal related craft news, the wonderful blogger at 'So Zo' is hosting Me Made May, again. I participated last year and am thinking about what I want my goal to be for this May. Hopefully it will inspire me and my wardrobe choices. Here's the link to the introduction and signup for this year's festivities. More on my wardrobe and handcrafted clothing later this month.

On a sunny Saturday Afternoon

I have a finished object to show off:

Gail post-blocking

The pattern is Gail, available free on Ravelry.  It's been in my queue for quite a while and when the yarn (Sockittome from Cherry Tree Hill) didn't prove suitable for socks, the shawl became plan B.

Modifications: I was running short on yarn at the end, so I omitted the stuff between the points by working the points in short rows.  I had six completed motifs along edge of shawl and was halfway through seventh when I worked rows one and two of edge chart.
Then I bound off two edge stitches. Knit next stitch, yo, work motif in pattern through decrease, turn.
Wrong side row: yo, purl to last two stitches, p2tog-through back loop.
Right side row: Slip first stitch purlwise, yo, work in motif pattern though decrease, turn.

Repeat last two rows until motif comes to point. With one stitch on working needle bind off as follows: yarn over, purl, pass first two stitches over purl stitch. yarn over, purl...until there is one stitch on needle before next motif. yo and work second motif as before.

I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this shawl, and see more in my future.

Last night I baked my first successful yeast bread in two weeks. (sorry no pictures) Last weekends loaves didn't have enough salt, so they rose to fast, over proofed and collapsed upon slicing. Two weekends ago I added to much sugar and then proceeded to over bake, so they had a dark crust and were on the dry side.

In other baking news I made Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread that the employees at my LYS loved. It's good, but I need to alter the brown sugar-sugar ratio and increase the leavening agents to compensate for hazelnut flour. But I see potential.

In knitting developments, I determined that I should rip back my Heliopath Vest and knit the smaller size. Sigh.

I started a new pair of socks. The pattern is Wendy Johnson's Toe-Up Socks With a Difference (Rav link), knit with Malabrigo sock. However I am adding a lace motif up the instep. It's the owls from Ginny's Cardigan (Rav link again) (from Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, as is aforementioned Heliopath Vest). The colorway is Chocolate Armago which comes out kind of stripey when knit up in socks. And it's not just me, I just looked at sock projects on Ravelry. I'm not frogging these, I was just startled when I saw the stripes, that's all.

WIP Wednesday: Ravellenic Edition

It's well into the winter Olympic games and I haven't posted about my participation in the Ravelry organized Ravellenic games that run parallel to the Olympics.

I'm a member of team South Paws, and have been working hard on a pair of socks as my main project.
It's a DROPS pattern that my sister picked off Ravelry. The yarn is Glacier Bay from Pagewood Farms that I picked up at my lys. The socks are for her, but I love both yarn and pattern, so I may have to make this pattern again, and pick up another skein of yarn for a different sock pattern, or a shawl, I'm not picky...

I'm almost finished with my Ringwood gloves, I've been done with the knitting, but have yet to weave in ends, block, and sew on buttons (buttons ytbd). The goal is to have them done before closing ceremonies on Sunday, for another category in the Ravellenic games.

I've also finished a swatch for the Heliopath Vest from Interweave's special edition: Harry Potter Knits. I picked up enough Wool of the Andes at the Knit Picks big sale to make the vest.
Ta-da!

In baking related developments, I've tweaked my banana bread recipe in hopes of a ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair this summer. I did well last year- somewhere between 6th and 25th. The first batches were well received, and I'm positive about the changes.

Stitch counts!!

Well, I've been keeping busy with my 1667 stitches a day.

Nov   1: 2016
Nov   2: 2280
Nov   3: 1684
Nov   4: 1848
Nov   5:   704
Nov   6:   201
Nov   7: 1542
Nov   8:   905
Nov   9:   704
Nov 10:   704
Nov 11: 1872
Nov 12: 2112
Nov 13: 2542
Nov 14: 3065
Nov 15: 1204

Total:   23382

That's 23,382 stitches for the first half of the month, only 1,618 stitches short of half done. That averages out to 1558.8 stitches a day, not bad!! What this doesn't account for is that I grafted the toe of my second sock. Wove in ends on the sock and on a pair of leg-warmers. I have yet to sew buttons on the leg warmers, but I have them picked out.

I also stitched some decorative lengths of I-cord for a pair of mitts. That is what brought down the stitch counts after the first week. I have yet to attach the I-cord to the mitts.

Yesterday I bound-off on a cowl I started on Halloween. It's a lovely pattern, Planet X Bandit, available free on Ravelry. (I can't access the site at the moment to provide a link.) I still need to weave in the ends and soak/block it, but I have high hopes it will become a winter weather staple.

Pictures will come in future posts.

NaKniSweMo- without the Swe!

There is a group on Ravelry that that hosts an event every November -along side NaNoWriMo. The goal is to knit a sweater (approximately 50,000 stitches) during the month of November: NaKniSweMo.

The theory goes that if you can write a 50,000 word novel in a month by breaking it down into 1667 words a day, you can do the same thing with a sweater. Knit an adult sized sweater in worsted weight yarn doing 1667 stitches a day.

I have competed in years past, without finishing on time. I enjoyed it- but this year I have a really really bad case of knitting ADD. I have half a dozen projects in various states of completion-or lack of, to be specific. Plus I want to cast on a pair of socks for mom, and complete them before it gets too cold.

So I'm going to attempt 1667 stitches a day for the month of November. It's about 30-50% more than what I estimate I normally do in a day. So it will be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.

Stitch count from Nov. 1: 2016 sts on the second of a pair of leg warmers. (My own design)

So far today I've done 1680sts on the legwarmer and about 600 on the heel of a sock.

I also finished grafting the toe of the first sock- and have decided that short row toes are not to my liking. Size 0- needles are too small to do that many short tows that close together and too many stitched to graft at the end of it. I'm using the yarn-over style of short rows, so that may have some bearing on the tediousness of it all.

Take two!

So you know how socks come in pairs right??

Well the trickiest part about knitting socks is getting the second to look like the first.  I'm currently working on Riff, from the deep fall 2010 edition of Knitty. (I love knitty by the way...)

I finished the first sock last week, and promptly cast on for the second- to avoid second sock syndrome. I picked up the pace for the second sock, because the first took way too long to knit and so that I can be done with them. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful pattern and I like knitting socks, but I'm itching to cast on something new, and I promised myself that I would finish a project before starting a new one.

The problems began when I had to start increasing for the gusset. The sock is worked toe up, so it's fairly early in the construction that gusset increases happen.  When knitting the first sock, I failed to note on which pattern row I started the gusset increases. After a close inspection, I was able to guess where the increases should start, or so I thought. Upon coming to the end of the gusset increases and getting ready to turn the heel and work the heel flap, I noticed that the second sock didn't match the first. The instructions state to 'Make a note of which Chart row you’ve just worked.' Well, my mental note (subject to error!) stated that I had just finished the last row of the foot chart. On the second sock, I was two rows from the end of the chart.

All is well, at least with the second sock I was able to get the instep and heel patterns to match exactly, the first sock was off by a row- which still has me confused... I have finished the heel flap and will now proceed to the leg.

Pictures will come at a later date, it's entirely to hot to consider modeling a wool sock.